Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, were surprised by the way Buckingham Palace released a formal letter reaffirming their status as non-working royals, after the couple were given little time to review the document or respond before it was distributed to the media.
The letter, sent on behalf of King Charles III to senior government and military officials, didn't change the couple's position within the royal family. Instead, the dispute centered on how the palace handled its release, according to the Associated Press and other reports.
Harry and Meghan's representatives received a copy just one hour and 12 minutes before it was sent to news organizations, a person familiar with the discussions told AP. Harry was in a meeting and couldn't be reached until only minutes before the release, leaving the couple with virtually no opportunity to review the language or raise questions.
The Guardian reported that the Sussexes' team contacted Buckingham Palace shortly after receiving the letter to ask whether the guidance had already been circulated and to seek time to clarify certain points. By the time Harry was reached, the document had already been released to the media.
NBC News also reported that a spokesperson for the couple said they were "surprised" by the move and weren't given an opportunity to contribute to the contents. A palace source told NBC that the letter was intended to clarify the couple's unchanged status for government and military officials and was made public because it was likely to leak.
The letter itself restated arrangements in place since Harry and Meghan stepped back from official royal duties in 2020. Their His and Her Royal Highness styles remain in abeyance, and any charitable or commercial work is carried out privately rather than on behalf of the monarch.
"To help avoid doubt or confusion, The King has directed that (this) information be shared," the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, said in the letter.
The document also stated that the couple's charitable work "is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity," while describing their position as separate from the state and ceremonial duties performed by working members of the royal family.
The release comes shortly after Harry and Meghan returned to Britain following years based primarily in California, reviving scrutiny over how official institutions should treat them now that they are again living in the U.K.
Security is a particularly sensitive issue. Harry has spent years challenging the removal of automatic taxpayer-funded police protection after he stopped serving as a working royal, and a government committee known as RAVEC is expected to consider the Sussexes' security arrangements this week.
